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Month: April 2016

PNM is trying to cover up the health dangers of the new “smart” electric meters by doublespeak and misinformation. In what follows, I refute several of their lies and deceptive statements.

“Radiation emitted by smart meters is below limits set by the FCC,” says PNM.

Answer:

Existing FCC standards are disastrously inadequate. Current standards, which are decades old and based solely on protecting against prompt thermal effects (heating of tissue), fail to take into consideration long-term and cumulative exposures to these devices and their potential non-thermal health impacts (e.g., latent cancers).

U.S. standards for EMF exposure lag well behind much of the world. For example, FCC exposure limits allow one hundred times as much radiation as allowed in Russia, most of Eastern Europe, China, Switzerland, Brazil, and other countries.

“Radiation from smart meters is below levels produced by cell phones,” according to PNM.

Answer:

PNM’s claim is flatly false. Daniel Hirsch, California radiation expert, informs us that one smart meter provides the full body radiation exposure of 160 cell phones. PNM’s false claims are based on two central errors: (1) they fail to take into account duty cycles (cell phones can be turned off, but “smart” meters emit 24/7 around the clock); and (2) they fail to utilize the same units (they should compare everything in terms of cumulative whole body exposure). The exposure from a Smart Meter at 3 feet is more than two orders of magnitude (one hundred times) greater than that of a cell phone.

“No credible evidence shows any threat to human health from RF emissions at or below RF exposure limits developed by the FCC,” claims PNM.

Answer:

This simply ignores the massive amount of evidence to the contrary. Multiple scientific studies have shown DNA damage, threefold incidence of brain cancers (fourfold for teenagers), neurological disorders, and other adverse health effects at exposure levels many times lower than existing FCC limits.

“The meters the company is proposing emit less radio frequency than a baby monitor,” says PNM.

Answer:

Who says that baby monitors are safe? Baby monitors, like DECT wireless telephones, emit “continuous pulse waves,” which are more dangerous than non-pulsed waves. The Council of Europe (Resolution 1815) warns against the “potential health risks of DECT wireless telephones, baby monitors and other domestic appliances which emit continuous pulse waves.”

It is precisely the low-level, non-ionizing radiation effects that have been shown by scientists such as Henry Lai, Franz Adlkofer, Martin Blank, and others to be associated with cancer, neurological disorders (such as autism and Alzheimer’s), as well as a weakening of the blood-brain barrier (thus increasing vulnerability to other toxins in the body). Recent Italian studies have demonstrated how low-level, low frequency EMFs interact with other carcinogens to produce new cancers, including brain cancer and breast cancer.

“EMFs, including the microwave frequencies emitted by smart meters, exist naturally in the world, so why worry?” says PNM.

Answer:

Yes, but new technologies are adding man-made EMFs in the RF and microwave frequencies at an alarming rate—billions of times greater than those naturally present in the world. By proliferation of EMFs on this scale, wireless industries are creating unnecessary health dangers. At the very least, the principle of precaution should be applied.

The current recommended maximum exposure guidance level for man-made RF and microwave radiation is over a trillion times the natural level we were exposed to less than a hundred years ago. Assuming that the human organism evolved in such a way as to accommodate the pre-smart-meter, pre-cell-phone levels, can we also assume that increasing those levels a trillion times is safe?

PNM is saying that since small levels of RF and microwave radiation already exist in the environment, it is safe to add billions of times more. This is like saying that since X-rays and gamma rays naturally exist, it is safe to irradiate people with billions of times as much as that present by nature. Lies like this are hazardous to our health.

Here is the schedule and procedural process for the hearings on the PNM effort to rollout their “smart” meters in New Mexico. A brief summary is in the text below and the entire 15-00312-UT – Procedural Order PDF is here.

Summary /excerpts:

3. Any person who desires to become a party to this case shall file a Motion for Leave to Intervene with the Commission in conformity with l .2.2.23(A) and (B) NMAC on or before June 24, 2016.

Staff and Intervenors shall file testimony on or before July 15, 2016.

Rebuttal testimony shall be filed on or before August 5, 2016.

A public hearing will be held beginning at 9:30 a.m. on August 22, 2016, and continuing thereafter through August 24, 2016, if necessary, in the Ground Floor Hearing Room ofthe Commission in the PERA Building, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 to hear and receive evidence, arguments and any other appropriate matters relevant to this proceeding.

K. Any interested person may examine PNM’s Application and all other pleadings, testimony, exhibits and other documents filed in the public record for this case at the offices of PNM at the following address: Public Service Company of New Mexico, 414 Silver Ave. SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, telephone (505) 241-2700, at the offices ofthe Commission, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, telephone: (888) 427-5772 or at “Case Lookup Edocket” on the Commission’s website at http://www.nmprc.state.nm.us.

L. Any interested person may appear at the time and place ofhearing and make a written or oral comment pursuant to 1.2.2.23(F) NMAC without becoming an Intervenor. Interested persons may also send written comments, which shall reference NMPRC Case No. 15- 00312-UT, to the Commission at the address set out below. All such comments will not be considered as evidence in this proceeding.

M. All documents filed with the Commission by mail shall be sent to: Records Bureau, New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, P.E.R.A. Building, P.O. Box 1269, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87504-1269. The following physical address of the Commission shall be used only for special or hand deliveries: 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501.

We are a group of concerned citizens joining together to create a completely smart meter free township in order to preserve the health and safety of our citizens.

We believe that pulsed-field utility meters pose a threat to our health, safety, privacy, and well-being and that every person has the right to personal privacy and a healthy, safe environment in their own home.

Our Goals are:

–To educate ourselves about the effects of “smart” meters and about how to prevent and reverse the installation of them in our town.

–To share information and raise public awareness about what we have learned.

–To engage in honest and productive discourse with our elected officials about the benefits of creating a “smart” meter free township.

–To act together as a community on our Constitutional rights to preserve and maintain a safe and private home that is free of utility “smart” meters and other violations of personal and community rights.